Ain't Such a Pretty Sight
by Sam Stanton
Summary: This story I began when I first heard there was going to be yet another Crane sister. I thought how many more of them could there possibly be? First things first, I thought this Crane shouldn't be conceited... but extraordinarily NICE.


**Ain't Such a Pretty Sight**

_By Samantha Lynn Stanton_

"What are you doing with that big bouquet of flowers, Fancy?" Sam  
asked her one-day at the police department. "Are they from Luis?"

Fancy laughed, light-heartedly. "No, but aren't they gorgeous? They're  
for my sister, Pretty's birthday. I ordered them from all over the   
world. She can be pretty eclectic when she wants to be."

"Pretty Crane? Gosh, there's so many of you. You never know where  
you're going to pop up next." Sam shook his head, in denial. "Didn't Ivy  
and Julian ever use condoms?"

"I don't know... that's gross, considering they're my parents." Fancy  
stuck out her tongue. "You have NO idea how many of us there are. We   
definitely bring new meaning to stair stepchildren. Pretty, though,  
puts all of us to shame. She is amazing! Really. She is my idol big  
sister. I am so lucky."

"Pretty's a pretty name." Sam commented, smelling the flowers.  
"Pretty."

Fancy thought for a moment. "Would you like to come meet her? The more  
visitors the better."

"Uh, sure. Why not? It's going to be a quiet afternoon I can tell." He  
said, sounding very  
laid back.

"Oooh, thank you! Pretty will be so thrilled!" Fancy squealed. "Come  
on, let's go!" she cried, grabbing him by the hand as they raced   
outside.

The paralysis center was crowded that day with a lot of new patients  
being checked in for the season. That didn't affect Pretty's comfort  
though. She had her suite of rooms to hide in. After all, some of the  
benefits for being a Crane meant total and lifelong privacy and a  
Crane deserved the best. Even though Pretty hated to admit it  
sometimes. After all, it was for being a Crane that had put her in a   
wheelchair. She had finally come to the acceptance that she would   
never walk again. It was pretty painful to accept and she had gone  
through a string of shrinks but deep down she always knew the truth...

She glanced at the clock then at the window. She was expecting Fancy  
any minute for her annual birthday visit. It was really very sweet of  
her sister considering it was Fancy's fault she was in this stupid  
wheelchair. But Pretty had put the past behind her and had forgiven  
her baby sister for her wrongs. After all, life was short, she  
couldn't spend it as a hater only out for revenge. Besides, Fancy had  
had an eye opener since joining the police force. She had become a tax   
paying, law-abiding citizen.

Pretty wheeled herself over to her mirror to try and see what she  
could do to freshen up her appearance. Not much, she saw, as the pale,  
sunken cheeks looked extra pale today and her blonde took on an extra  
dull, lank appearance. Her one strong feature were her sky blue eyes,  
the only thing that pleased her nowadays. Pretty missed the days when   
she used to live up to her name, but it couldn't be helped, what had  
happened. She even considered changing her name to Ugly Crane, but she  
knew her mother would freak out about it and have yet another break  
down.

All Pretty could do was smile and keep her chin up, working patiently  
on her exercises to keep her legs in shape. While at the same time,  
trying to fight the deep waves of depression that threatened to drown  
her.

Fancy was the only one in her family who visited her sister and that  
was quite ironic, considering she was the one who caused the whole  
accident who put her sister in a wheelchair. Pretty and Julian were  
never close, it was always awkward between them. Ivy tended to have an  
emotional breakdown whenever she came near her, being reminded of the  
tragic accident that took her pretty daughter's legs away from her. It  
was best according to the doctor that Ivy and Pretty remain at a far   
distance from each other. And as for everyone else in the family, they  
might as well not even exist to Pretty. Pretty had no real friends or  
aquaintenances, except for those who were in the hospital with her.  
But she only saw them when she dared to venture out of her suite for  
two seconds. Other then that, she did have her poetry to keep her  
company. And her yearly visit from Fancy to look forward to.

Now, as she ran a comb through her straggly hair, she made the  
decision she wouldn't feel sorry about her appearance any longer.  
There was more to her then just her appearance anyway. She wheeled  
herself over by her spot by the window to wait and work on a poem she  
was currently working on but she didn't get far as a knock sounded on  
the door and she hurriedly went to answer it. "Hey, there, Fan-cy..."   
She was taken aback when she saw her sister wasn't alone.

"Happy Birthday, sis!" Fancy hugged her and presented her with the  
flowers.

"Hey." Pretty smiled, with a timid glance at Sam, who was still in  
uniform. "Am I under arrest or something?"

"What?" Fancy looked confused. "Oh! No! I asked Sam to come with me. I   
thought the more the merrier."

"Hey, Pretty, it's nice to meet you," Sam offered his hand to her. He  
was surprised to see she was in a wheelchair but didn't let that small   
obstacle affect his judgment of someone he had never met before. Truth  
was, he thought her name ought to be Beautiful instead of just Pretty.  
Her blue eyes shone with shyness as she watched him, curiously.

"We're going to do something a bit different this year, Prett." Fancy  
announced. "Instead of just spending it here, we're going to go out  
and paint the town red for your birthday. How about it?"

"Really? Wow, this is such a surprise." Pretty was shocked but you  
could tell she was pleased. "Where are we going? What shall I wear?"   
She said with the horrible knowledge that she hadn't had anything   
decent in her wardrobe for years. She had lost track of the latest  
styles, having no interest in them since she basically had no place to  
go. She was comfortable in her plain Jane t-shirts and sweats with her  
hair pulled back into a relaxed pony.

Fancy took her wardrobe into consideration. "Some place you'll be  
comfortable, of course. No Seascape if you don't want. There are a nice  
variety of retro places we can go to."

Pretty gave her a look that said she was grateful for Fancy's  
consideration. "Then we'll go to one of those places."

Sam cleared his throat. "I never liked the Seascape anyway. Way too  
snotty." He wrinkled his nose.

"I was just thinking that." Pretty laughed lightly.

"Great minds think alike." He said jokingly.

"Indeed they do, Chief Bennett." Pretty agreed, grinning from ear to  
ear.

"Call me Sam, please." He insisted.

"Sam." Pretty repeated, softly.

"Well, Sam, if you don't mind waiting for a few minutes, we've got  
some getting ready to do." Fancy wheeled her sister towards her  
bedroom.

"I'll be here." He sat down, patiently.


End file.
